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VALERIANA OFFICINALIS. 
Great Wild Valerian* 
Class Triandria. — Order Monogynia. 
Nat. Ord. Aggregate, Linn. Dipsacete, Juss. 
Gen. Char. Corolla monopetalous 5-cleft, gibbous at the 
base. Seed 1, crowned with a feathery radiating pappus. 
Spec. Char. Stamens three. Leaves all pinnate. Leaflets 
lanceolate, serrate, nearly equal. 
Valerian is supposed to be the Cps of Dioscoridesand Galen, and 
the species under consideration, the Officinalis of Linnzeus, is the Va- 
leriana Sylvestris Major Montana of Bauhin. The great wild valerian is 
a perennial native plant, very common in the southern parts of Britain, 
flowering from June to August. It is found in various situations, on 
dry heaths, and high mountainous pastures, on the banks of rivers, 
ditches, and other wet and marshy situations ; and the appearance 
of the plant (and also its sensible qualities) vary, according to the 
situation in which it is produced. f 
The root of this plant consists of a great number of long, slender, 
dusky brown fibres, which unite at their origin and form one head ; 
the stem rises erect to the height of from two to four feet, hollow, 
smooth, channelled and branched ; the leaves vary on different parts 
of the plant, those on the stem are placed in pairs upon short broad 
sheaths, they are composed of from five to ten pair of elliptical, 
serrated pinnae, terminated by au odd leaflet, which is the largest ; 
the radical leaves are the largest, and stand upon long footstalks ; the 
floral leaves, or bracteas, are lanceolate and pointed ; the flowers 
white, or of a purplish colour, and terminate the stem and branches 
in large bunches, or corymbs ; the calyx is only a narrow rim, which 
* Fig. ft. a flpvver magnified, c. An anther, d. The pislillum. e. A seed. 
+ In the northern parts of the kingdom it is foand on more elevated situations and 
drier ground, where it becomes, in every respect, smaller and more hairy, 
Curtis, Flora Londinensis. 
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